As for myself, I should point out that although I'm NOT defending Sarah's words - even THINKING about nukes in a matter like this is beyond insane and deserves a biatchslapping of Biblical proportions - she is right to the extent that we are slowly dismantling the deterrent. There has been a lot of talk about making the ICBM force go away, especially after the performance of the launch crews over the last few years. The bomber force is now down to the B-2s and the B-52s (the B-1s are non-nuclear capable by treaty and can't be made so again without long refits) and the missile subs are due to be replaced in the late 2020s, but some of them may be decommed long before that due to maintenance and age issues. Let's face it - there's going to be people who will try to pull things if they think they won't have to face the ultimate sanction. This isn't one of those times, but it's possible.

How many nukes, exactly, do you think we need? One for every major city in the world, plus ever minor one?

Seriously?

Let me give you a little background - I did six years as a weapons guy with a Strategic Air Command bomb wing, and another year with a unit in the Far East that may or may not still have nukes; I'm not sure so I'm not going to name it. That was seven straight years of transporting and guarding them, and I HATE the goddamn things with a passion - I still have the occasional nightmare about them, and the last time I laid a hand on one was nearly thirty years ago. We need enough - and I don't claim to be a strategic planner, so I can't tell you what that number is - to make sure that anyone else can't threaten us with their use without knowing that they will suffer just as much in return. I'd love it if that number was less than a dozen, and I'd be even happier if they were all gone.

The Russians may be insane, but they're not crazy - the only way these days they'd ever launch would be if US tanks were physically on Russian territory, and even then they can't be sure their missiles will work, setting aside the fact that at most they have about 10% as many functional nuclear capable bombers as we do (and 'capable' doesn't necessarily mean they can get up and do it on short notice) and maybe about 350 ICBMs, all of whose reliability is at best, problematic. And in any event, The only people who will draw down on us with a nuclear weapon are the Norks or the Iranians, and the Iranians only after they've laid the first one down on Tel Aviv. The point here is that you have to have a few to deter the worst of the bad actors, and as long as we have bad actors, we need the damned bombs.

Techhell:They think that America can destroy Russia before Russia can launch their own nukes back. They also honestly don't care if Europe gets nuked since there is next to nothing that they get from Europe (that they know of) so there is no personal loss for them.

That's kind of the crux of the entire situation. Conservatives seem to think that if Russia feared us, they wouldn't do these things. The truth is, Russia is doing these things because they fear us. In the last 20 years, their Eastern European buffer zone has almost disappeared. Riga and Kiev are 1.5 hours flight from Moscow. We are in military terms right on their door step. Even without a missile shield, our first strike advantage is daunting and Russia knows it. In expanding NATO and the EU so quickly, we've pushed Russia's backs against the wall. Not that I oppose NATO expansion, but this is one of the consequences.

SlothB77:I'm glad the Democrats are here to show us how to treat women.

Yes, I'm feeding a troll, but I have to wonder how many people actually think people who criticize or oppose Palin do so on account of her being a woman, as opposed to pretending to think that so they can discount legitimate criticisms, or simply to troll.

But since you raise the point, the proper way to treat women is pretty much the same as the proper way to treat men. And that means not handling them with kid gloves or putting them on pedestals.

Death Whisper:At least she's willing to stand up to Putin, Obama's a castrated weasel who would rather appease him.

It's a game right now. What do you actually think Obama should do? The response is pretty weak I suppose, but should we send in troops? Should we position a carrier in the Black Sea poised to wage all out war to liberate Crimea? Has the Ukraine government (such as it is) even asked for military assistance?

Why should Obama be the one to go full war-monger on this? What about Europe? They're a lot closer and are more directly affected since they have a lot more trade between themselves and Ukraine and Russia than we do.

The Ukraine's military looks small compared to Russia's, but bear in mind that if Ukraine wants to fight they can devote 100% of their military effort towards standing up to Russia and I have no doubt that they would get international support even if it's only covert.

Russia can't devote all of its military towards the Ukraine. They've got other areas they're trying to keep under control.

Putin is the real loser here. He's just digging himself a bigger whole with every misstep.

IamTomJoad:I am so glad republicans are around to make comments on how hot she is, cause what women really desire is to know that looks are considered more important than intelligence or experience.

She clearly lacks intelligence, her experience is also insignificant... looks are kind of all you can focus on with Palin.

When people speak about someone like Elizabeth Warren - her looks are never mentioned. It's her proposals, her meetings, her speeches.... it turns out you have to bring some intelligence to the table to have it discussed,

Bit'O'Gristle:She is right about that. Mutually assured destruction is the only thing keeping North Korea and other rogue nations from lobbing their missiles. Sure, she comes off like an idiot from the way she presents things, but she is right about that. A country is far less likely to shoot a missile if they know that they will get 100 back.

Except that no one, not even someone as marginally crazy as Putin is going to start a nuclear war. And certainly not over Russia taking over the Ukraine. So what she said was nonsensical.

And why the fark is the media still covering anything she says anyway?

Death Whisper:At least she's willing to stand up to Putin, Obama's a castrated weasel who would rather appease him.

Whether this is real or not, I don't know. It's so hard to tell these days. But if there's any waffling going on in these negotiations, it's from Europe. Russia stands alone which means Putin speaks only for himself. Obama has to herd the cats that make up NATO and they're the ones resistant to sanctions because they're the ones who will feel the repercussions most directly.

SlothB77:I'm glad the Democrats are here to show us how to treat women.

The Moon Cannot Be Stolen

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon."

demaL-demaL-yeH:freetomato: WTFDYW: Death Whisper: At least she's willing to stand up to Putin, Obama's a castrated weasel who would rather appease him.

She only 'stands' up to Putin because she's not in charge. Put her in charge and she'd STFU and go cook a meal. It's easy to be a bad ass when you aren't the one in charge.

It's also easy to be a bad ass when you are not willing to enlist in the military, but are willing to toss other peoples kids into a meat grinder.

One of her boys is Army./She's still an idiot.

Army Reserve, served in Iraq. Call me cynical, but if we had (God forbid) a President Palin (I threw up in my mouth a little just typing that) I doubt he would see combat, not that I wish that on anyone.

I actually saw a "Sarah for President!" bumper sticker the other day. About drove off the road laughing.

This is painful to read, but I will. Okay, she starts with some rah rah about the Tea Party. It's the kind of rhetoric I wouldn't even like if I supported the Tea Party, but okay she's just cheering her side.

Then she invokes, the military, young people and Ronald Reagan(zap). Well, who can argue about the heroism of our military personnel? And who doesn't agree that whether we like it or not, young people will shape the future? And Ronald Reagan? Well, he's apparently been canonized and forgiven of all his sins (like giving amnesty to a bunch of illegal aliens). After all, he is single-handedly responsible for the reunification of Germany and the fall of the Soviet Union and all he had to do was tell them to tear down the wall. (You'd think he had Roger Waters as an adviser or something).

Invoke Reagan again (along with Friedman and Thatcher). Okay. I don't even have anything against any of those three, but they are well faded into the past by now and they are all DEAD, just like Palin's soul.

More words.

Praise Ted Cruz. Brags about her ability to memorize Dr. Seuss books.

Okay, I'll admit her little Dr. Seuss twist where she changed the words to criticize the government was pretty good. Not bad, Ms. Palin. Whichever staffer wrote that for you should take your place at center stage.

I suspect most Ukrainians would say that's not the kind of help they need.

Or maybe nuke Moscow to save Ukraine?

Hmmmm.....okay, where do we go from there? Okay, let's say we just nuke a small Soviet Russian city. Does she really think Putin wouldn't retaliate? Putin could pick a small city in Europe to obliterate and tell us the next ones will be headed towards London, Paris and Los Angeles.

I always thought Sarah Palin was stupid, but I didn't realize how dangerous she might actually have been if McCain had won and she was one heartbeat away from the presidency.

Let me give you a little background - I did six years as a weapons guy with a Strategic Air Command bomb wing, and another year with a unit in the Far East that may or may not still have nukes; I'm not sure so I'm not going to name it. That was seven straight years of transporting and guarding them, and I HATE the goddamn things with a passion - I still have the occasional nightmare about them, and the last time I laid a hand on one was nearly thirty years ago. We need enough - and I don't claim to be a strategic planner, so I can't tell you what that number is - to make sure that anyone else can't threaten us with their use without knowing that they will suffer just as much in return. I'd love it if that number was less than a dozen, and I'd be even happier if they were all gone.

....The point here is that you have to have a few to deter the worst of the bad actors, and as long as we have bad actors, we need the damned bombs.

Coming on a Bicycle:Graffito: Coming on a Bicycle: Ok. But it doesn't really do anything to diminish the way that Obama *has* royally farked up with Putin. Twice now.

How so?

Twice now, Obama has said 'to here and no further' to Putin. The first time (Syria) he just didn't follow through; this time it looks like he simply has no way to follow through. He should learn when to speak and when not to speak, because this is the sort of thing (the 'red line' thing) that you can only use sparingly, and then only when you have the possibility, the means and the guts to actually do something.

Yeah, because Presidents who use military action at the drop of a hat really stop Putin from invading his neighbors. Just ask the Georgians.

Mentat:Techhell: They think that America can destroy Russia before Russia can launch their own nukes back. They also honestly don't care if Europe gets nuked since there is next to nothing that they get from Europe (that they know of) so there is no personal loss for them.

That's kind of the crux of the entire situation. Conservatives seem to think that if Russia feared us, they wouldn't do these things. The truth is, Russia is doing these things because they fear us. In the last 20 years, their Eastern European buffer zone has almost disappeared. Riga and Kiev are 1.5 hours flight from Moscow. We are in military terms right on their door step. Even without a missile shield, our first strike advantage is daunting and Russia knows it. In expanding NATO and the EU so quickly, we've pushed Russia's backs against the wall. Not that I oppose NATO expansion, but this is one of the consequences.

This.

We also have an issue where Ukraine is just not that important to the West, and intrinsically important to Russian security. So we have a scared weak Russia acting to defend something they view as an intrinsic interest and Western powers for whom the object of his aggression matters little.

I would find it very interesting to see if some clever diplomat couldn't find a way to turn this whole thing into an embarrassment for Russia by mobilizing support for a plebiscite in Chechnya. Russia supports ethnic self-determination, doesn't it?

Mentat:Techhell: They think that America can destroy Russia before Russia can launch their own nukes back. They also honestly don't care if Europe gets nuked since there is next to nothing that they get from Europe (that they know of) so there is no personal loss for them.

That's kind of the crux of the entire situation. Conservatives seem to think that if Russia feared us, they wouldn't do these things. The truth is, Russia is doing these things because they fear us. In the last 20 years, their Eastern European buffer zone has almost disappeared. Riga and Kiev are 1.5 hours flight from Moscow. We are in military terms right on their door step. Even without a missile shield, our first strike advantage is daunting and Russia knows it. In expanding NATO and the EU so quickly, we've pushed Russia's backs against the wall. Not that I oppose NATO expansion, but this is one of the consequences.

Thank you. SO many people don't understand that. They also don't understand that before the collapse of the USSR invading Iraq could have easily gone into a global war. The US has ties now in so many old Eastern Block nations that Russia is worried about being encircled.

TV's Vinnie:Do these rightards think that Americans are radiation-proof???

They think that America can destroy Russia before Russia can launch their own nukes back. They also honestly don't care if Europe gets nuked since there is next to nothing that they get from Europe (that they know of) so there is no personal loss for them.

And if the radiation does get to America, they are quite sure that in a few days, maybe as long as a month, there will be treatment provided free to them if they need it.

sendtodave:CanisNoir: Red meat tossed out to the base at a political convention for the base? The hell you say!

Real Americans.

As opposed to those fake Americans? Meh. We're pretty hemmed into following Europes lead on this one so it's become a rhetorical dick waving contest. I seem to remember Obama leveling criticism of Bush policies that he gleefully embraced once he sat in the captians chair. Things look differently when your in the hot seat. This type of hyperbolic rhetoric is not unusual for either party to spout in the run up to an election.

Hillary comparing Putin's takeover of Crimea to Hitler's takeover of Sudetenland shows her poor grasp of history, but comparing Obama's reaction to Putin to Chamberlain's reaction to Hitler is somehow spot-on?

I'd suggest that the cognitive dissonance should be palpable, but then I remembered that, odds are, conservatives can't actually tell us what Chamberlain did and with regards to what event.

I fondly remember the first five minutes when I first heard a woman was tagged as the VP running mate. I was thinking, oh, maybe a strong role model for my daughters. Then I learned a bit about her, then I heard her rabble rousing. I hate extremists who can't even bother to try to understand the point of view of others.

Soon Right Away:This is Obama's one chance for the Right to see him as a good guy. Then, next time they call him Hitler for feeding poor people or getting sick people medical treatment he can play this clip back, along with the footage of Moscow glowing green, and they'll love him again.

You guys are all way off base. She was actually complimenting Obama. Obama is the "good guy with a nuke" that could stop Putin. Do you think Putin would listen to a word Obama says diplomatically if we didn't have nukes?

As for myself, I should point out that although I'm NOT defending Sarah's words - even THINKING about nukes in a matter like this is beyond insane and deserves a biatchslapping of Biblical proportions - she is right to the extent that we are slowly dismantling the deterrent. There has been a lot of talk about making the ICBM force go away, especially after the performance of the launch crews over the last few years. The bomber force is now down to the B-2s and the B-52s (the B-1s are non-nuclear capable by treaty and can't be made so again without long refits) and the missile subs are due to be replaced in the late 2020s, but some of them may be decommed long before that due to maintenance and age issues. Let's face it - there's going to be people who will try to pull things if they think they won't have to face the ultimate sanction. This isn't one of those times, but it's possible.

Graffito:Coming on a Bicycle: Ok. But it doesn't really do anything to diminish the way that Obama *has* royally farked up with Putin. Twice now.

How so?

Twice now, Obama has said 'to here and no further' to Putin. The first time (Syria) he just didn't follow through; this time it looks like he simply has no way to follow through. He should learn when to speak and when not to speak, because this is the sort of thing (the 'red line' thing) that you can only use sparingly, and then only when you have the possibility, the means and the guts to actually do something.

That stupid biatch should keep her pie hole shut. Nobody wants to hear about using tried and tested techniques on how to deal with nuke superpowers. We have a big red pen that we can draw big red lines with and a red phone that we can make stern phone calls with. Keep your conservatard warmongering to your yourself.

It's like her shiat is written by ex-cops weaned on Dirty Harry. "Very, very bad dudes" is cop oversell for how tough their job is, usually harassing the homeless and petty offenders. They are always "bad dudes".

Yeah,I would not watch her talk on Fox, I would not stick one in her box.

Well she never was "hot" like people say. I guess if you're grading on a curve like politicians, HR workers, gym teachers then okay.

So Republicans, still angry Obama won? Otherwise, McCain would have had a stroke his first week in office and we'd be living in a post nuclear dystopia by now. Road Warrior, Godzilla awoken, mass hysteria.